Staaarter Tools

YAML Value Finder

Paste YAML and a search term, and get back every leaf scalar value (string, number, or boolean) containing it, each labeled with its full dot/bracket path, so you can locate exactly where a specific piece of data lives in a large document. A free online tool from Staaarter, right in your browser.

Runs locallyUpdated 2026-07-27
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Overview

Introduction

Finding where a specific value lives in a large, deeply nested YAML config, like tracking down every place a particular hostname or environment name is used, usually means scanning the whole file by eye. This tool searches every leaf value directly and shows exactly where each match sits.

Because every result is labeled with its full path, there's no ambiguity about which occurrence of a repeated value you're looking at.

What Is YAML Value Finder?

A YAML value finder that walks a parsed document collecting every leaf scalar value together with its full dot/bracket path, then filters that list down to entries whose value contains your search text, case-insensitively.

It's the search-and-filter counterpart to YAML Value Extractor: where the extractor lists every value's location-free content, this tool narrows the list to matches and adds path context.

How YAML Value Finder Works

The input is parsed with a full YAML 1.2 parser, then the resulting value is walked recursively, building the same dot/bracket path used elsewhere in this category (`user.address.city`, `servers[1].name`) for every leaf scalar it encounters.

Each path-labeled value is filtered case-insensitively against your search text; leaving the search box empty returns every leaf value in the document, each with its path.

When To Use YAML Value Finder

Use it to track down every place a specific piece of data (a hostname, a version string, an environment name) appears in a large or unfamiliar config.

It's also useful for confirming a value was set consistently everywhere it's expected, rather than in only some of the places it should be.

Often used alongside YAML Value Extractor, YAML Value Replacer and YAML Key Finder.

Features

Advantages

  • Labels every match with its exact location, unlike a plain text search that just highlights matching lines.
  • Only searches actual leaf values, never accidentally matches inside a key name.
  • Case-insensitive matching catches inconsistent capitalization in hand-written configs.
  • Runs entirely client-side, so configuration data never leaves your browser.

Limitations

  • Matching is a plain substring search, not a regular expression or fuzzy match.
  • Only leaf scalar values are searched; objects and arrays themselves are never returned as matches, only the scalars nested inside them.
  • Very large documents with many matches produce long result lists, there's no additional filtering built into the tool beyond the single search box.

Examples

Finding every occurrence of a value

Input

env: staging
service:
  env: staging
  name: api

Output

env: staging
service.env: staging

Both occurrences of "staging" are found and labeled with their exact path.

Best Practices & Notes

Best Practices

  • Search for a specific value before assuming it's only set in one place, it's easy to miss a nested duplicate by eye.
  • Use the returned paths directly as references back into the original document when editing.
  • Follow up with YAML Value Replacer once you've confirmed where a value appears and want to change it everywhere.

Developer Notes

Path building reuses the same recursive dot/bracket accumulator as YAML Value Extractor and YAML Diff, so paths stay consistent across the category; the only addition here is a case-insensitive `includes` filter applied to each `path: value` pair before it's returned, matching the query-filter pattern used by this site's XML Value Finder.

YAML Value Finder Use Cases

  • Tracking down every location a specific hostname, version, or identifier appears in a large config
  • Confirming a value was updated consistently everywhere it should have been
  • Auditing whether a sensitive-looking value (an email, an internal URL) appears anywhere unexpected in a document
  • Locating the exact path of a known value before editing it by hand

Common Mistakes

  • Expecting key names to be searched too; this tool only searches leaf values, use YAML Key Finder for keys.
  • Assuming matching is case-sensitive; it isn't, so a broad query can surface more matches than expected.
  • Forgetting that an empty search box matches every leaf value, not zero values.

Tips

  • Leave the search box empty first to see every leaf value and its path, then narrow from there.
  • Use the path in each result to jump directly to that spot when editing the original file.
  • Pair with YAML Value Replacer to go straight from finding a value to replacing it everywhere.

References

Frequently Asked Questions